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Mathematics Education in East Asia from Antiquity to Modern Times

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Mathematics Education in East Asia from Antiquity to Modern Times Mathematics education in East Asia from antiquity to modern times Man Keung SIU Department of Mathematics, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China Abstract Since the early 1990s the learning process of Asian students brought up in the tradition of the Confucian heritage culture (CHC) has become a much discussed issue. As a consequence the teaching process of Asian teachers in CHC classrooms has attracted the same attention. These two related issues are brought into focus in the so-called “CHC Learner / Teacher Paradox”. It is therefore natural to look at the history of mathematics education in some Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea. This paper attempts to give an account of this long episode from ancient to medieval to modern times with illustrative examples. Introduction In this paper the author attempts to discuss some aspects of mathematics education in East Asia from antiquity to modern times by addressing the following questions. (i) What were the main features of mathematics education in (ancient) China / East Asia? (ii) What were some factors that led to such features? (iii) What influence did such features exert upon the development of mathematics in (ancient) China / East Asia? (iv) What lesson in mathematics education do we learn from this study? The last question is of particular interest in view of the upsurge in the recent decade of the attention paid to the process of learning and teaching in a classroom environment dominated by the so-called Confucian heritage culture1 (CHC) [see (Stevenson & Stigler, 1992; Stigler & Hiebert, 1999; Watkins et al, 1996; 2001)]. These two issues are brought into focus in the form of two paradoxes, namely (1) The CHC Learner Paradox: CHC students are perceived as using low- level, rote-based strategies in a classroom environment which should not be conducive to high achievement, yet CHC students report a preference for high-level, meaning-based learning strategies and they achieve significantly better in international assessments! (2) The CHC Teacher Paradox: Teachers in CHC classrooms produce a positive learning outcome under substandard conditions that western educators would regard as most unpromising! 1 The nebulous term CHC is used here in a general sense to cover the cultural background of communities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. It is beyond the scope of this short paper as well as beyond the capacity of the author to elaborate on this term in depth. Bjarnadóttir, K., Furinghetti, F., & Schubring, G. (Eds.) (2009). “Dig where you stand”. Proceedings of the conference “On-going research in the History of Mathematics Education”. 197 Man Keung SIU A usual explanation of these paradoxes lies in a careful differentiation between repetitive learning and rote learning. Such a differentiation is succinctly captured in the writings of the leading neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (1130-1200) who said (translation taken from (Gardner, 1990)): Generally speaking, in reading, we must first become intimately familiar with the text so that its words seem to come from our own mouths. We should then continue to reflect on it so that its ideas seem to come from our own minds. Only then can there be real understanding. Still, once our intimate reading of it and careful reflection on it have led to a clear understanding of it, we must continue to question. Then there might be additional progress. If we cease questioning, in the end there’ll be no additional progress. (Book 10, p.135) […] Learning is reciting. If we recite it then think it over, think it over then recite it, naturally it’ll become meaningful to us. If we recite it but don't think it over, we still won't appreciate its meaning. If we think it over but don't recite it, even though we might understand it, our understanding will be precarious. (…) Should we recite it to the point of intimate familiarity, and moreover think about it in detail, naturally our mind and principle will become one and never shall we forget what we have read. (Book 10, p.138) Still, it remains a fact that in CHC a strong tradition of examination prevails and that it is commonly believed that an examination-oriented culture will hinder the learning process. Is examination really that bad? Or is it a necessary evil? Or is it even beneficial to the learning process in some sense? It may be helpful to look at the issue from a historical perspective. Traditional mathematics education in China In China the school system in its formal setting began during the latter part of the Xia Dynasty (circa twenty-first century B.C. to sixteenth century B.C.), run by the state and intended as a training ground for youths and children of the aristocracy. The system became more institutionalized in subsequent dynasties, persisted and evolved up to the last imperial dynasty of Qing (1616-1911), with rise and decline in its strength along with events and happenings in different epochs of history. A long period spanning half a millennium (722 B.C. to 221 B.C.) beset with conflicts and unrest caused decline in state-run institutions of learning, but the decline was more than compensated for by the formation of private academies around some eminent scholars in the community. This dual system of learning, which comprised state-run institutions and private academies side by side, persisted in China for the next two millennia. Embedded within the general education system was that of mathematics. For details see (Siu, 1995; 2001; 2004; Siu & Volkov, 1999) plus its extensive bibliography. A summary is depicted in a time-line with certain important events added alongside (see Figure 1). 198 Mathematics education in East Asia from antiquity to modern times Figure 1. A summary of the history of mathematics education in China. To address the question on examination-oriented culture, Siu and Volkov (1999) report their study of the state examination system in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), based on the detailed accounts recorded in official chronicles including (a) Jiu Tang Shu (Old History of the Tang Dynasty, c.941-945), (b) Xin Tang Shu (New History of the Tang Dynasty, c.1044-1058), (c) Tang Liu Dian (Six Codes of the Tang Dynasty, 738), (d) Tong Dian (Complete Structure of Government, c.770-801), (e) 199 Man Keung SIU Tang Hui Yao (Collection of Important Documents of the Tang Dynasty, 961). Furthermore, Siu even ventures to offer a (perhaps fictitious but with some partial evidence) “re-constructed” examination question to support his belief that candidates in ancient China did not just recite by heart mathematical texts in learning the subject at state-run institutions [see (Siu, 2001; 2004) for more details]. The “re-constructed” question is: Compute the volume of an ‘oblong pavilion’ of height h with top and bottom being rectangles of sides a1, a2 and b1, b2 respectively ( a1 ≠ b1,a2 ≠ b2 ) (see Figure 2). Figure 2. An ‘oblong pavilion’. A special case of the problem (when a1 = b1,a2 = b2 ) is indeed Problem 10 of Chapter 5 of the most famous ancient Chinese mathematical classics Jiu Zhang Suan Shu (Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art) compiled between 100 B.C. and A.D. 100 (See Figure 3). Figure 3. Problem 10 of Chapter 5 of Jiu Zhang Suan Shu. It is not easy to hit upon the correct formula 1 1 V = [a a + b b + (a b + a b )]h 3 1 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 of the volume of an ‘oblong pavilion’ if one merely learns the formula of the pavilion (with square top and bottom) given in Jiu Zhang Suan Shu by rote. Besides, 200 Mathematics education in East Asia from antiquity to modern times the problem is of practical interest, because the candidates might well be facing in their subsequent career problems which were variations of those they learnt in the textbooks. By examining the content and style of mathematical classics in China we discern two main features of traditional Chinese mathematics: (1) It responded to demands on solving real world problems more than to demands on explicating problems created within the theory itself. (2) It was more inductive than deductive in nature. We can perhaps trace the root of these features to a basic tenet of traditional Chinese philosophy of life shared by the class of shi2 (intellectuals), namely, self-improvement and social interaction, leading to an aspiration for public service and inclination to pragmatism. Such an attitude is basically good and positive, but it also invites the possibility of exerting a negative influence on the study of certain disciplines, in this case mathematics. Mathematics is regarded primarily as a tool in dealing with practical matters, and that the worth of mathematics can only be so justified. As a result, mathematics did not play a role in traditional Chinese culture and thought as the role it played in western culture, for instance, as described in (Grabiner, 1988). These same features were reflected in mathematics education in China. Let us illustrate with one example. In the famous mathematical treatise Shu Shu Jiu Zhang (Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections) written by QIN Jiushao (c.1202- 1261) in 1247, there appeared a problem (Problem 5 of Chapter 8) that says, “A circular castle has four gates to each direction. A tall tree stands 3 miles to the north. If one goes out by the South Gate and walks towards the east for 9 miles, one shall just see that tree. What is the circumference and diameter of the castle?” (See Figure 4). Figure 4. Problem 5 of Chapter 8 of Shu Shu Jiu Zhang.
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